Subject: POLITICO Huddle, presented by the American Society of Anesthesiologists®: TRUMP’S JUDGES KNOW SENATORS -- How to remix that Senate video -- House votes on tough amendments -- TAKEI, CLAWSON RETIRE
From: POLITICO Huddle <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 May 2016 05:45:11 -0600

05/20/2016 07:42 AM EDT

By Burgess Everett (@burgessev or [email-masked]) 

THIS ONE LITTLE TRICK ABOUT TRUMP'S SCOTUS LIST - GOP senators are skeptical about Donald Trump's candidacy, but the list of conservative jurists that he released this week is going a long way toward soothing them. A big reason why? Senators know a lot of these folks that popped up on the list. SMK puts together the pieces: "Sen. John Cornyn is a personal acquaintance of Don Willett ... Both men share the distinction of having served on Texas' highest court. Another Trump favorite, Thomas Lee, is the brother of Utah Sen. Mike Lee. Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid was once Sen. Cory Gardner's law professor. And Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley was so pleased with an Iowa
 judge included on Trump's list that the senator said he would've personally recommended Steven Colloton to a future president considering a high court justice. In selecting names for his list of potential Supreme Court picks, Trump seemed to make direct appeals to Senate Republicans by choosing their associates and even relatives, along with jurists who have long been household names among conservatives. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2794598ac36b4b21f148c4cc72e3dad29b1bf63ee5b7187dc63b3d1d67958152

Manafort goes hard with GOP chiefs: In a separate piece of Trump's own brand of charm offensive, convention manager Paul Manafort told Senate GOP chiefs of staff that Trump is like Ronald Reagan, that he can compete with Latinos and that Trump is heading the VP search, no one else. Oh, he also said that Hillary Clinton's negatives will bring her down -- but Trump's own negatives can be scuttled: Trump's "behavior can be changed." My story with SMK and Eli Stokols gets inside the room at Jones Day, which we are told, was top floor in a very nice office: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2794598ac36b4b21a4e7bdfe2c483aa7830c98854b14bb0797d092e49b28a8be

SENATE SQUAD GOALS: The Senate Republicans have a new video out highlighting their accomplishments. It's slickly done and pretty entertaining, but it immediately struck me how well it would pair with some hot ish. At first I thought uptempo, a la "Push It," by Rick Ross, but then discovered this vid really works best with something slow, plodding, and tough. Here's my suggestions to get the most out of this video: 5. "The World is Yours," by Nas. 4. "Some Type of Way," by Rich Homie Quan. 3. "New Level," by ASAP Ferg. 2. "Swag Surfin'" by some one-hit wonder. 1. "Hustlin'" by Rick Ross. Try it, you won't be disappointed. Here's the Senate GOP vid: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2794598ac36b4b212992a70c67ba4058c741384bf55d5d77ff59633d70ed9053

And of course: Spinning as ever, one Republican suggests DJ Khaled's "All I Do is Win." I'll allow it. 

HOUSE TOUCHES HOT BUTTONS: It was a chaotic scene on Thursday in the House as the chamber voted on whether to bar contractors from getting government work if they discriminate against the LGBT community. It looked for a minute like the amendment would pass, but then things got crazy. Bres, Bade and Ben Weyl paint the scene: "It was an unruly scene on the floor with Democrats chanting, 'Shame!' after GOP leaders barely muscled up the votes to reject, 212-213, an amendment by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) that would have effectively barred federal contractors from getting government work if they discriminate against the LGBT community. At one point, a monitor in the House gallery showed
 there were 217 votes supporting the legislation, eliciting cheers of joy from Democrats who thought the measure might actually pass. But over the course of about 10 minutes, those votes suddenly dropped one by one to 212 - and the amendment failed."

Naming names: "A number of lawmakers from western states, who originally voted yes, changed their votes. According to a list tweeted out an hour after the vote by House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer's (D-Md.) office, they included: California Reps. Darrell Issa, David Valadao, Jeff Denham, Mimi Walters, and Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, Rep. David Young of Iowa and Rep. Bruce Poliquin of Maine." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2794598ac36b4b21416e892d77c2229889c4502a1a1d0bcbedef419ada4ccf47

CONFEDERATE ISSUE HANDLED MORE EASILY: A year after the confederate flag torpedoed House work on the appropriations process, House leaders handled the debate much more smoothly this year. AP: "The 265-159 vote would block descendants and others seeking to commemorate veterans of the Confederate States of America from flying the Confederate Battle Flag over mass graves, even on days that flag displays are permitted ... The House approved amendments last year to block the display and sale of the Confederate flag at national parks but a backlash from Southern Republicans caused GOP leaders to scrap the underlying spending bill." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6be09d80a7fec743e9f0c5301cbff020634b607ed5dde0efd81eecff0c7b753f

REID CALLS McCONNELL 'CLASSLESS': Harry Reid did not appreciate Mitch McConnell's book excerpt bashing him as a Jekyll and Hyde-type figure that is "rhetorically challenged." Reid said he had no heads up on the matter and called McConnell "fairly classless" for hitting him like that. "Boy, that book must not be selling very well if he needs that to pep it up ... I would never do anything like that to him. It would be easy to do. But I wouldn't do it." Last week of course, Reid said that McConnell probably agrees that women are dogs and pigs because he is supporting Trump. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6be09d80a7fec743b776eb16923199b93dfbeaabbc059d64ea443ead5f786451

Memories: Here's Reid and McConnell singing each other's praises after I wrote about their deteriorating relationship in December. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6be09d80a7fec7431c29c5c7c49994e56ba0df78803110ea8951ddadc175f083

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY TO DO NOTHING AT ALL. And welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill, where unfortunately that's not an option. Please send tips to [email-masked] and follow along on Twitter @burgessev. 

TODAY IN CONGRESS - Recess, jet fumes, etc.

AROUND THE HILL - Get some sun, you all. 

OFF THE HILL: People for the American Way and the Constitutional Accountability Center will hold a press call with Sen. Amy Klobuchar on the consequences of an eight-member Supreme Court. RSVP: [email-masked].

** A message from American Society of Anesthesiologists(R): Removing physician anesthesiologists from Veterans' surgical teams would "directly compromise patient safety and limit our ability to provide quality care to Veterans." Over 200 VA Chiefs of Anesthesiology and physician anesthesiologists, October 2015. Protect Safe VA Care. Vets earned it and deserve it. Visit www.safevacare.org. **

UP THE PARKWAY: Rep. Elijah Cummings will hold a media availability at 11 a.m. at 1010 Park Avenue in Charm City to urge residents to respect the outcome of the Freddie Gray trial. 

THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Are you all feeling the Bern? Cuz Lucy Flores's campaign ad was the most clicked yesterday. 

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Barbara Boxer and Jim Inhofe embracing as they announce a deal on toxic chemical safety. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6be09d80a7fec7437a4788424bffd31b225f488cc0bb767277f3934c054a29eb

HOUSE RETIREMENTS -- Hawaii: Rep. Mark Takai will not seek reelection after learning several months ago that he had pancreatic cancer after announcing in February that he would run for reelection. "Takai's decision not to seek re-election could have a big impact on Hawaii's political landscape. The deadline to file papers to run for the seat is just three weeks away." Hawaii News Now: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6be09d80a7fec743b5e43a31e4e622294701d6934b7b23b270a0927bfd959c84

Flo-rida: Curt Clawson, who ran a campaign based around his basketball prowess and hitting fadeaway Js over President Obama, is hanging it up after winning a special election in 2014. He said the reason for retiring is that the death of his mother has affected him more than he previously thought. "Announcing his decision now, Clawson said, gives him time to see if he can juggle his congressional duties and his responsibilities as a son. It also provides potential candidates for his seat a month to assess their chances before the June 24 filing deadline. 'It gives plenty of people time who want to consider running ... They don't have just two days to decide. We wanted to be respectful of the
 process and I wanted to take enough time to see how I felt.'" News-Press: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6be09d80a7fec743ae47cff9b49af31cba1e3e59689873abf1c8a07a314d64ba

Never forget: The ad is still pretty great. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6be09d80a7fec743be77a66df06df115ce07638b23b7489c61eba6dc5ff8c0c5

GOOD NEWS: "Tweet Congress, the nonprofit website that helped push a number of politicians to join the twittersphere - and made a few of them deeply regret it - plans to relaunch in the next month ... a new version of the politician-tweet-tracking website will be up and running in the next few weeks, roughly three years after its original effort went offline. Most infamously, Tweet Congress was instrumental in helping bring down Anthony Weiner, after the then-New York congressman, married to a Hillary Clinton aide, tweeted a protuberant image of his boxer-briefed flanks to a 21-year-old woman who was following him on Twitter." CNBC's Daniel Libit, a former POLITICO: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6be09d80a7fec743c106534dafe731c9c597681096aa6023d840c337e049802d

MAN THAT GUY IS FAST: Several senators, granted anonymity, actually seem in disbelief about how fast Tom Cotton was on Wednesday morning in the ACLI Challenge 5K. He retained his crown at 19:12 as the fastest lawmaker, but wasn't quite up to Max Baucus's 18:15 in 1981. Cotton seemed a little miffed that he didn't toast Baucus: He said Thursday that if he knew how close he was to the record he would have run faster. And he could have: He ran 17:55 in 2013, but he was in the House then. 

WARREN, PEACEMAKER? The Hill's Alex Bolton says Democrats are hoping that Elizabeth Warren is able to bring Bernie Backers together with ClintonWorld when the Democratic primary ends. A "Democratic senator who has spoken to Warren and requested anonymity to discuss their interaction said, 'We've got to land this plane and I want her in the control tower ... 'She's trying. I think she's an honest broker.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6be09d80a7fec743d9fe693a9bf157cc7079463e2d5158a7ef6d45818937560b

Jon Allen does not like your VP shortlists: "Along with Sens. Tim Kaine, Sherrod Brown and a couple of up-and-coming Democratic members of President Barack Obama's Cabinet, Clinton should consider former Procter & Gamble CEO and current Veterans Administration Secretary Bob McDonald as a running mate. McDonald, 62, trumps Trump's business-world experience. He took on the thankless task of reshaping the broken bureaucracy of the VA and he's well-liked and well-respected on both sides of the aisle." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=aca38897531eb2943ac62fbd5ad77fb27e7339038c2fcac938f46c04fa547e1a

TRANSITIONS: Rick Limardo is coming on as the Ways and Means coalitions director. E previously worked at NAM and as Rep. Jim Renacci's chief of staff. 

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Logan Ferree was the first to answer that Anwan Glover, aka "Slim Charles," is the frontman of Backyard Bank. However, Nick Magallanes offered the answer that most convinced me he listens to go-go. 

TODAY'S TRIVIA - I'm diving deeper on go-go in today's question: Like other musical genres, D.C.'s homegrown go-go has several subgenres. One, for the middle-aged set, is known as "Grown 'n Sexy," but another, faster-paced style is preferred by the youngin's. What's this style of go-go called? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at [email-masked]

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says "Sign Up." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=aca38897531eb294b99d44ff37f029bca082e545b3c1a2e576e4c6b47c15999a

** A message from American Society of Anesthesiologists(R): Protect Safe VA Care. Join the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Veterans, physician anesthesiologists and VA Chiefs of Anesthesiology in opposing VA's proposed policy to remove physician anesthesiologists from Veterans' surgical teams abandoning a proven model of care where physician anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists work together to provide high-quality, safe anesthesia. There's no shortage of physician anesthesiologists in VA - this change isn't needed to improve access to anesthesia. VA's own internal review concluded current information doesn't support the proposed nurse-only model of anesthesia care as safe for
 Veterans and key studies "do not provide any guidance on how to assign patients for management by a solo CRNA [nurse anesthetist], or whether more complex surgeries can be safely managed by CRNAs, particularly in small or isolated VA hospitals where preoperative and postoperative health system factors may be less than optimal." 

Protect Safe VA Care. Vets earned it and deserve it. Visit www.safevacare.org. **

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